Tag Archives: Bill Canda

DISMISSED. Hedberg Files Spurious Criminal Complaint Against Commissioner

Hedberg Attacks Another
Custer County Citizen

Files Spurious Criminal Complaint Against Commissioner Canda

by George Gramlich,
News and Commentary

updated January 5, 2023
(See links to more documents at the end of the article.)

In a scene that regrettably seems to happen over and over again, the Editor of The Wet Mountain Tribune, Jordan “Red Bug” Hedberg, has again viciously and without merit, attacked another Custer County conservative citizen. This time it was Custer County Commissioner Bill Canda.

In September, Hedberg filed a Criminal Complaint against Canada alleging Criminal Forgery and Abuse of Office. Wow! To get to the bottom of this, we contacted Commissioner Canda to get the facts, and as you will see, reality collides with Hedberg’s false allegations. Again.

As a preface to our findings, below is background on the scandal and Canda’s comments on what went down.

Where did this start, you may ask? It is about the Braden Wilson/County Manager fiasco that Commissioners Kevin Day and Tom Flower manufactured, which in the end, predictably, caused the County great harm and money. The one guy who tried to stop the County Manager (CM) inside job was Commissioner Bill Canda. And for his completely legal and courageous move to attempt to block the blood money severance paycheck to Wilson because he believed the CM Contract was invalid, Hedberg then, out of pure malice and vengeance, filed a criminal complaint in September with the Custer County Sheriff and the 11th Judicial District Attorney alleging that Canda committed criminal Forgery and Abuse of Public Office when he went to the local bank which has the county’s accounts, and filled out a Stop Payment Form on a $54k check written to Wilson after he was fired. The $54k check was composed of regular salary and benefits from Wilson’s last days as Finance Director and a $45k “severance” payment (which was included in Wilson’s CM contract upon the insistence of Day and was in effect the moment Wilson was hired. Day inserted the poison pill penalty in an attempt to restrict any future BOCC from firing Wilson. It was completely unethical.)
As we will see, as Canda pointed out in our interview, Hedberg’s complaint was completely devoid of merit, filled with erroneous facts and allegations, and motivated solely by Hedberg’s long time push to discredit Canda due to a variety of past issues: Canda led the way to “open up” Custer County during the Covid debacle which Hedberg histrionically resisted in his newspaper; Canda also defended our Public Health Director against Hedberg’s unrelenting and unproven accusations against the Director; and Canda’s voting to give the Sangre de Cristo Sentinel the County’s Legal Notices contract instead of to the Tribune (which hurt poor Jordy’s feelings.) (Hedberg’s irrational hatred for Canda recently manifested itself again, with Hedberg, a very recent “registered Republican”, endorsed a very left-wing unaffiliated candidate running against life long Republican Canda in the recent election cycle by displaying her campaign posters in the Trib’s window. Note no other candidates’ campaign signs were visible. That sign posting, folks, is all you need to know about Hedberg’s RINO leanings and his hatred of Canda.)

So, what happened? During Commissioners Day and Flower’s battle to force the county to create the County Manager position last year, and bully their candidate, Wilson, into the position, Commissioner Canda fought tooth and nail to stop it. Day and Flower cut corners, refused to post the job for a reasonable length of time and violated multiple provisions of the Colorado Open Record Act, Section 3.5 which states the procedure that must be followed to create an executive position in a county. The two commissioners  ignored the statutory provisions and voted to create the position, write a CM employment contract with an unethical poison pill severance clause and then hire their pre-chosen candidate, Wilson, for it.

This was flat out dirty, dirty, inside politics. Like stuff you see in Denver. No place for that here.

Commissioners Day, Epp, and Canda

Just after they hired Wilson, recall candidate winner, Lucas Epp replaced Flower as County Commissioner. In one of the very first meetings after Epp was sworn in, Canda and Epp voted to eliminate the CM position and Wilson. That happened near the end of the meeting. Right after that, hearing that Wilson no longer had the job, the new Finance Director, without being authorized by the BOCC, cut a $54k severance/salary/benefits check for Wilson and stamped Day’s name on the check as signor. She then immediately gave the check to the fired Wilson. Wilson had only “worked” as CM for five days. (So he got $45k of our tax money for nothing. Thanks, Day.) The Commissioners knew nothing about this outrageous act. (Internal controls? Nonexistent in the Custer County Finance Department.)
When Canda found out about it, he immediately went to United Business Bank and asked to fill out a Stop Payment Form to stop the check. According to Canda, his basis for doing this was his belief that the CM contract was invalid and void as the BOCC did NOT follow the state law on creating the CM position and the hiring process was bogus.
Canda said that he believed the CM contract was invalid and void, and thus the severance payout was invalid. At the bank, Canda requested a Stop Payment Order. When the bank clerk produced the computer-generated form. The form had the County’s Treasurer, Virginia Trujillo name preprinted on the form in the signor area, under the signature box.  See below:

Canda, as a VALID ACCOUNT SIGNOR, and as a County Commissioner, lined out the Treasurer’s printed name and title, and signed his name and printed his title, “Vice Chair”. Perfectly legal. Zero forgery.

Not much later, after Day called Trujillo and told her what happened, Trujillo called the bank and said Canda did not have the authority to do that and to cancel the Stop Payment Order. As we will see, Trujillo did NOT have the authority to do that. Only the County Commissioners, all three of them, have the SOLE authority to distribute county funds (with some minor and narrow exceptions for the County Clerk and Treasurer to execute their duties in those offices.)
The Treasurer has NO authority to control BOCC disbursements. Note that CRS 30-10-707, “Treasurer to Receive and Pay Moneys”, explicitly states that the BOCC is totally in charge of disbursements, “It is the duty of the County Treasurer to receive all moneys belonging to the county, from whatever source they may be derived, and all other moneys which are by law directed to be paid to him. All moneys received by him for use of the county shall be paid out by him only on the orders of the board of county commissioners, according to law, except where special provision for the payment thereof is otherwise made by law.” (Emphasis GG.)
The Commissioners decide who gets paid. Not the Treasurer.

At the next BOCC meeting Day made a big deal about Canda not having the authority to do what he did and what he did was bad, but, as it turns out, Day was again dead wrong.
Canda said that CRS 30-11-107, “Powers of the Board”, clearly states that only the BOCC can disburse county funds. (Plus, Canda was a registered, valid, signor on the account.) Thus, based on the shaky legal standing of the CM contract, and the fact THAT NO COUNTY COMMISSIONER SIGNED THE CHECK (the Finance Director, without any BOCC authorization, stamped Day’s signature on the check), Canda PROPERLY signed the Stop Payment Order. Trujillo, who does not have authority over disbursements, then later called the bank and cancelled the Stop Payment Order. So, Wilson got his $45k severance pay for a few days’ work and the county took a beating.
According to Canda, Trujillo did not have the authority to overrule a County Commissioner regarding the County’s bank account (e.g., the County’s bank account disbursements). The Commissioners have total control over disbursements according to Colorado law. In fact, the Treasurer’s name should not have been on the Stop Payment form. (It was there as a “place holder”. The form should have been blank as any Commissioner signor can sign a Stop Payment Order for disbursements.) Thus, Canda, with full legal authority, properly signed his name and title on the form.

Now, let’s take a look at Hedberg’s Criminal Complaint against Canda alleging criminal Forgery and Abuse of Office. In the Complaint, Hedberg alleges, “He committed these crimes when he went to United Business Bank in Westcliffe to attempt to place a Stop Payment Order on a check that was written by Custer County Treasurer Virginia Trujillo to former Custer County Manager Braden Wilson. William Canda knew that he was not the account holder, and he also knew that he had no authority to access the account or place a Stop Payment Order. Regardless, he falsely convinced the Bank Teller …”

This statement is at the very beginning of the Complaint. It is so wrong, it is laughable. Apparently, Hedberg, “Mr. Journalist”, failed to do any research or due diligence before filing this error filled and bogus Complaint. Note that the check was NOT “written by Custer County Treasurer Virginia Trujillo”. The signor was Kevin Day, as improperly stamped by the Finance Director. (Hedberg can’t even get right who signed the check! Good grief! This is the level of accuracy throughout the whole complaint. Totally incompetent.) And, “William Canda knew that he was not the account holder” is flat out wrong. He was indeed an account signor. In fact, he was one of the three people (the three Commissioners) who are actually in charge of disbursement for the account.

Hedberg alleges that Canda in signing his own name and title, as a valid signor on the account, and acting as a County Commissioner (who have sole control over disbursements in the account) somehow committed criminal FORGERY is a malicious attempt to harm an
innocent man.

Hedberg then states in the Complaint, “the document makes it clear that the only listed person on the account with authority is Virginia Trujillo and her office of the Custer County Treasurer.”

Just because a computer preprints the Treasurer’s name on the form DOES NOT MEAN THAT THE TREASURER IS THE ONLY PERSON ON THE ACCOUNT! Good grief, Hedberg knows the checks coming out of the County’s A/P system have Kevin Day’s signature on it. Maybe that is a clue that there might be more than the Treasurer on the account, Hedberg? In fact, if you had simply asked the bank or a Commissioner, they might have told who were the signors on the account and that Canda was one of them. The Treasurer has NO authority to control BOCC disbursements. (As noted above in CRS 30-10-707.)

Hedberg’s second criminal allegation, that Canda Abused his Public Office was stated like this:
“In addition, when William Canda fraudulently altered the document and signed the document with his officially elected position as Vice Chairman of the Board of Custer County Commissioners in an attempt to maliciously cause financial harm to Braden Wilson, he Abused his Public Office under Colorado law § 18-8-404 which states:
(1) A public servant commits first degree official misconduct if, with intent to obtain a benefit for the public servant or another or maliciously to cause harm to another, he or she knowingly:
Commits an act relating to his office but constituting an unauthorized exercise of his official function; “

This claim is absolutely fraudulent. Like real fraudulent. Canda had literally ZERO malice here. As explained above, he had every right to try to protect the County based on the violations of the CORA provisions that occurred during the CM debacle which put the actual CM contract in dispute regarding its validity and the fact that no Commissioner authorized or signed the huge check. In fact, Canda was under a DUTY to protect the county and he did the right thing in signing the Stop Payment Order. (Remember, delaying the payment was not denying the payment. Canda wanted to determine if the CM contract was valid or not before paying Wilson. It was more than a fair reason to do it. It was a LOT of money.)

Section (1) (a) also was not violated. He was totally authorized as a County Commissioner and as a a Signor on the account to sign the Stop Payment Order. So that was another bogus allegation.
Let’s look at one more Hedberg false allegation, near the end of Complaint lament,
“William Canda has already claimed in a public meeting on August 31, 2023, that he had the authority to place a stop-order payment to Braden Wilson and denied wrongdoing. But in my conversations with Virginia Trujillo and looking at Custer County laws, it is clear that William Canda has never had authority on the Treasurer’s bank account, and his actions of altering bank documents prove that he knew he had no authority whatsoever.”

Hedberg’s statement, “it is clear that William Canda has never had authority on the Treasurer’s bank account” is delusional. It is the County Commissioner’s bank account with regards to distributions according the Colorado law. Not the Treasurer’s.  And, Canda WAS a signor on the account. Also, Colorado state law determines what the Commissioners’ authority is  not “Custer County laws”. (Hedberg is so far off here it is unbelievable, and it looks like he is just making things up.)
Hedberg doesn’t stop there in his attempt to shame Canda; he called his homies at KRDO and told them about this and they start drooling like dogs over road kill as it is a Christian, Republican, career ex-military, Custer County Commissioner who is being accused of Forgery and Abuse of Office. For KRDO this couldn’t be any better. Canda says KRDO called him up but he wouldn’t talk to them as it was an ongoing criminal investigation. So without ANY verification of Hedberg’s (false) claims, they ran the story big time on their TV station and website.  ( NOTE THIS LINK takes you outside the SDC Sentinel Website)

Thus, Canda was shamed publicly by Hedberg and KRDO FOR DOING THE RIGHT THING with the proper authority. Situation normal for libs.
And again, much government time and money is wasted on a false Hedberg allegation.
(The DA had to process this bogus complaint, assign an Investigator to it and waste time writing up the report. At the same time, the DA has got a Custer County triple homicide case investigation case going on. Nice.)

(This story will be forwarded to the reporter who wrote the story at KRDO. And the GM. We’ll see if they issue a retraction or a follow up noting that Canda was falsely charged. We also will see if Hedberg issues a retraction.   I doubt it.)
So Hedberg filed a bogus, malicious Criminal Complaint against the Christian, conservative, Republican, had his lib media homies, KRDO, play it up big time, and tried to destroy a good man’s reputation. SOP for Hedberg. The Complaint will be dismissed by the DA.  But Hedberg doesn’t care. He’ll just look for the next victim.
Bill Canda did the right thing and he can walk tall.   A shame allegation won’t ruin a good man’s reputation. The “man” that made the allegation is the shamed one. And everyone now knows where the shame, deceit, and dishonor lies. And it ain’t Canda.

(See Bill Canda’s Statements  HERE. )

Also see the 11th District’s statement concerning investigation which the Sentinel obtained after going to press  HERE which shows that Commissioner Canda is indeed a signor on the County’s bank account.

Snookered: BOCC Executive Session Tape Released

 

BOCC: Secret Session Audio Tape Released Due to Citizen Pressure

Here’s How Day and Flower Tried to Snooker Us

by George Gramlich,
Sangre de Cristo Sentinel
News and Commentary

 

Man, oh man, that secret Executive Session (ES) that the Custer County Board of County Commissioner’s (BOCC) Kevin Day and Tom Flower had on August 16, 2023, was supposedly just about “legal advice” on the “process for contract negotiations” concerning the employment con-tract for the proposed County Manager (CM) position, turned into something else — which was way wrong. Instead of just “legal advice” for the “process for contract negotiations”, the secret session discussed a whole hoard of things other than that single subject. When you read the transcript of the meeting  (coming next week) it will give some insight on Day’s and Flower’s “management” skills and “leadership” qualities. (That is, two clowns lost in Clown World.) In addition, Day and Flower talked about how to suppress citizen’s input and comments and personally attacked a citizen. Folks, this tape is an eye opener into tyrannical and corrupt government. So, let’s see what we have.

But how do we know what went on in that ES? We know what went on because of the demands of a group of motivated citizens who attend the BOCC meetings and smelled a rat regarding the process Day and Flower used to push a County Manager position on us. They wanted that audio recording of that August 16th Executive Session (ES) made public. What else happened was  a change of who is a county commissioner due to the recall (Lucas Epp replaced the recalled Tom Flower) gave the citizens the deciding vote in the BOCC releasing the tape. (Day fought tooth and nail to keep it a secret. When you read/hear it, you will see why.)

Due to the pressure from the citizens and Epp’s vote to release, we have the tape. (These citizens did what most of the county refuses to do: engage our local politicians and keep them on track and honest. God bless them.)

The following description and quotes of the ES are based on listening to the audio recording. It is very poor quality in parts so some words may be incorrect. We are having the recording professionally transcribed and that will be printed in next week’s Sentinel.

What you hear on the tape is Day frantically pushing to get the whole contract negotiation process and the hiring of Wilson done in that one meeting as the Flower official recall results were days away (the unofficial Recall results were out August 7th and it wasn’t looking good for Flower Boy) and if Flower was recalled, the new BOCC would probably never finish the process.  (That’s why Day put in an unprecedented Severance Pay provision for ($45K) that the CM would get even if he worked only one day.)

Commissioner Bill Canda refused to attend the ES on August 16th as he believed that  Day and Flower did not properly follow the Colorado statutory provisions required to create a CM position and that the whole process was totally improper because Day and Flower had pre-chosen Wilson for the job and that was unethical.

So, what happened in that ES and the open meeting?  Here are some important items that occurred:

What the recording revealed:

1. The ES was supposed to be about getting “legal advice” from the County Attorney, Dan Slater, about the process for the contract negotiations Day and Flower should be taking in negotiating the contract with Wilson. But it turned into a lot more which was outside of the stated reason for the ES and thus illegal.

2. County Attorney Slater was inconsistent during most of the meeting.

3. Flower, even after being told by Slater that the actual negotiations with Wilson must be in a public, desperately wanted to do them in secret to keep the public in the dark. In the end, due to Slater, they did the fake “negotiations” in the public exposing the farce again to the citizens.

4. The whole ES discussion was a total clown show with Flower using curse words to describe the citizens in the meeting and Day pushing the absolutely crazy proposition to hire Wilson first and THEN negotiate a contract. This was beyond the realm of stupidity. Remember Flower called the citizens in the gallery at a big BOCC CM meeting a few months ago, “ya, ya’s”? Well, now he refers to the citizens that attended this meeting Bill’s “Billy Goats.” (Nice way to refer to the citizens who pay his salary and to show disrespect for your fellow commissioner.)

5. Slater, who constructed the proposed contract, used a sample employment contract from the national county manager association. Do you think that the sample contract might be a little biased towards the employee? Nah, no way. In the rush job to get this done, Slater did not get a good sample of other counties’ actual contracts but went with one that was surely pro employee and anti-county. (So we are paying him to side with an employee over the county’s interests?)

  1. Day pushed this through with the abhorrent severance pay provision. Flower gleefully went along but it was Day’s baby. (Wilson grabbed the money ($57k for five days work) the second he got terminated ALL DUE TO DAY’S INSISTENCE ON THE SEVERANCE PAY CLAUSE BEING IN THE CONTRACT.)
  2. Flower’s unbelievable arrogance: The management analysis team that Canda put together plus literally hundreds of retired or active big time business owners and small, medium, and large business executives live in this county. They actually KNOW how to run a business and especially an office type business. Flower has NO experience in that and had caused an incredible amount of damage in his six-year reign. Day has no business management experience AT ALL. In spite of that, here’s what Flower said, “Nobody down there has the expertise, knowledge, and insight that the three commissioners have. They can run their pie hole all they want. They don’t know.”

8. Our County Attorney, Dan Slater, who made up the employment contract (and we paid him for it) actually says about his proposed contract THAT HE MODIFIED, “And it may be poorly written. That’s a reality.” (Unbelievable.)

9. At one point, Flower asked Day, “How do you feel about postponing it all? Give them what they want?” Day, apparently started literally crying and said, “If that’s the case, I just spent two months fighting for something I know needs to happen and then I see [it] not happening.” (Day seems to think he knows it all and the dozens of citizens who said let’s slow this thing down on this are wrong.)

  1. Day and Flower go way off base near the end complaining about the citizens actually being allowed to speak at the meetings. Flower blames Day for this. Day and Flower spend some time on how to muzzle the peasants once they get back into the public session. This is not seeking legal advice from Slater and NOT part of the reason for the ES. They are making decisions in an ES which is illegal.

11. Cat out of the Bag: Day saying that “Braden will probably take whatever we want for him.” (Does that sound like the whole thing has been set up?)

12. With regards to public contract “negotiations” that were going to happen after the ES, Flower says this about the citizens at the meeting, “Yeah. I say the public doesn’t have anything to say about it.” (Nice.)

Bottom line, the tape shows that Day and Flower have NO respect for the citizens who voted them in. Somehow, as soon as they got elected, these two clowns turned into Super Mario managers with no need for advice or consultation before they make big time structural changes to our county government. We didn’t see this in Day when he was running for office. But, as we have seen over and over again, the man has become a huge disappointment.

Canda was right. The county needs management and leadership training. Starting with Day.

So, most of the ES was NOT about getting legal advice about the “process for contract negotiations” thus violating the Open Meetings law. This is wrong and unethical and probably illegal. We have enough of these ES’s. As citizen Matt Miles has said repeatedly in the meetings, “the public’s business should be done in public.” We need to make that happen.

 

BOCC Shocker! Secret Meeting to Force County Manager on Custerites

BOCC Shocker! Secret Meeting
Initiated by HR Wilson Gets The Despised
County Manager Position
Approved and Wilson Hired as CM!
No Others Considered! Illegal?
Day, Flower, Wilson Guilty of Dirty Politics

by George Gramlich,
News and Commentary
We’ve seen some pretty shaky things at the Custer County Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) meetings over the last ten years but the meeting on June 29, 2023, takes the cake. In describing what happened that Thursday the words duplicity, arrogance of power, sneakiness, secret discussions, disdain for the citizens and flat out dishonesty come to mind. And it is all about the proposed County Manager (CM) position. Oh my! Continue reading BOCC Shocker! Secret Meeting to Force County Manager on Custerites

BOCC Passes Resolution Condemning Baghdad Biden for Treason 

Custer County BOCC Passes Resolution Condemning
Baghdad Biden for Treason
Vote 2-1

by George Gramlich,
News and Notations

-Westcliffe, Colorado

Things got pretty hot, like I mean real hot, at the end of the September 8, 2021, Custer County Board of County Commissioners meeting with childlike temper tantrums, verbal assaults and of course, multiple liberal snowflake meltdowns. But, in the end, it was well worth it as patriotism won and the fascist left lost. Hooah!

The meeting started promptly at 9 a.m. with all three musketeers in attendance: Chair Bill Canda, and members Tom Flower and
Kevin Day. Continue reading BOCC Passes Resolution Condemning Baghdad Biden for Treason 

The New BOCC: November 30 Meeting

The New BOCC:
Old Court House Hours Restored,
Committee Formed to Review
New Personnel Policy,
CCEDC Grant Questioned Hard

Board of County
Commissioners (BOCC)
—November 30, 2017
WESTCLIFFE, Colorado

by Jackie Bubis
The meeting started at 9 a.m. with the Pledge of Allegiance and Roll Call. Introductions of the public in attendance followed.
Commissioner Items
All three commissioners reported on the CCI (Colorado Counties Inc) conference. The new commissioners commented on the quality of the training. Mr. Printz spoke with DOLA manager Christy Doon regarding broadband, Dark Skies and building issues. There were discussions with Representative Crowder about losing the Underfunded Courthouse grant. They were encouraged to apply again at the next opportunity.
Chairman Flower stressed the importance of making sure that the voters know how each commissioner votes on each issue. Kelley Camper stated that she lists these details in the minutes.
Attorney Items
Mr. Smith reported on the Planning Commission workshop. The Dark Skies issue was postponed until the December 11th meeting (1:30 in the court room.) He also reported on two airport billing issues that he’s working to resolve. Continue reading The New BOCC: November 30 Meeting

The New BOCC: November 22 Meeting

Commissioners Bill Canda, Tom Flower and Jay Printz.
Photo by Jackie Bubis

The New BOCC: Action Started
on Personnel Policy and Courthouse Hours – Printz in Opposition
CCEDC Getting $1 Million DOLA Grant

 

Board of County Commissioners (BOCC)
—November 22, 2017
WESTCLIFFE, CO
by Jackie Bubis
The meeting started at 10 a.m, after Tom Flower and Bill Canda were sworn in, with the Pledge of Allegiance and Roll Call. Due to the size of the crowd, the meeting was held in the courtroom.
Attorney Clint Smith and Clerk Kelley Camper drew lots for a temporary chairman to open the meeting. Commissioner Printz won the draw. He opened the meeting. All three commissioners wanted the chairman position and reported why they would make a good chairman. The men then voted in a chairman (Tom Flower) and vice-chairman (Bill Canda) to serve until the first meeting in January.
Commissioner Canda and Commissioner Flower then took an opportunity to express their thanks and their priorities for the job of commissioner. Both expressed that the citizens are their boss.
Commissioner Items
Commissioner Printz reported on a meeting with the Wetmore Community Center board. He stated that the Board accepted the idea that, with the future online streaming of meetings, the frequency of meeting in Wetmore might change. He also reported on the E911 meeting. Continue reading The New BOCC: November 22 Meeting

Custer County Ballot Results: The People Have Spoken

The People Have Spoken:
RECALL: Two Out of Three Commissioners RECALLED
Third Barely Hangs On
Ballot: No to Building Codes, Yes to School Bond

by George Gramlich,
News and Commentary

An an astonishing display of voter revolt, the citizens of Custer County have successfully recalled two out of the three current County Commissioners with the third barely hanging on to his office by a mere 122 votes. Commissioners Bob Kattnig and Donna Hood were both successfully recalled by substantial margins.

Kattnig, who had only two years to go on his four-year term was recalled by a vote of 1,354 to 1,174, or 54% to 46%. Hood, who was just elected last year, was recalled by an even greater margin, 1406 to 1,130, or 55% to 45%. Commissioner Printz, who also was elected last year barely managed to survive the recall effort with a vote of 1,323 (52%) against his recall and 1,201 (48%) for his recall, or by a razor slim margin of only 122 votes.

Continue reading Custer County Ballot Results: The People Have Spoken